Requiem of the Human Soul
by Makoes
Summary: The game through Vincent's pov as he learns the horrifying extent of what's been done to him, how he copes with what he is, and one member's search for the truth. Rated T for now... Disclaimer: I do not own FF7 or any of it's characters or places.


**This story takes place during the original Final Fantasy 7 game play, primarily from Vincent's point of view. The story starts off the first night after Vincent's awakening.**

"Do you think we can trust him?"

"He looks kinda shady to me."

"Doesn't talk much, wonder what his story is."

"How could he be locked in that room, in that "coffin!?" and still be alive…the dust was so thick…"

"I think he's a vampire."

"Shut up Yuffie."

"Hey, let's give him time to settle, we don't know his story, but we're not in the position to refuse help…we need all the help we can get…besides, anyone who hates ShinRa can't be that bad right?"

"…"

"…yeah"

"Your right Tifa."

"Guess so."

"I still think he's a vampire."

"Shut up Yuffie."

He sat there, some twenty feet off the ground, his sharp hearing picking up the conversations of his new "companions". The branch wasn't particularly thick, but he didn't seem to weight much now. Thirty years…he'd been trapped down there for thirty years.

Damn Hojo for his human experimenting, damn him for killing her, damn him for what he'd done. Vincent fist clenched in anger, suddenly a new sensation washed over him. His vision seemed to blur, he felt ill, and several rhythmic thumping's seemed to be coming from below. He turned his head towards the sound and found himself staring at his companions with an almost heatl ike vision. He could see their body heat, could see through their translucent skin to the pulsing veins beneath. He felt his mouth start to salivate, were his canine's longer? He turned his head away and sucked in cool night air through his mouth. Just what had Hojo done to him…?

_'He couldn't move, the straps held him down, as the scalpel cut him from his throat down to his navel, his mouth opened in a silent scream, the pain like fire, couldn't move, his body bucked against it, but unable to move.' _

*snap*

His ears picked up the sound, still too far away for normal hearing. His eye's picked out the heat signatures of several humanoids slowly moving towards their position. Some new instinct seemed to move him soundlessly from the branch he had been on towards the encroaching group. He moved effortlessly from branch to branch through the thick forest until the people came into view. They were dressed in blue uniforms, ShinRa soldiers. He froze, waited, watching, and listening.

"They came through here, probably an hour ago."

"We're catching up."

"Should move quietly, it's getting pretty dark here, they might have set up camp."

"Keep an eye out for signs of campfires."

There were seven soldiers, low ranked scouts by the looks of it. Probably sent to track down AVALANCHE and either stealthily dispose of them, or radio in for back up. Vincent wasn't sure, but he did know that no one else was as good (at least 30yrs ago) a shot as he was. He slowly pulled out his gun, and took aim, safety off.

*click*

"Anyone hear that?"

Six gunshots broke the silence over the forest. Startled birds took flight in a ruckus of caws, tweets and wing beats.

The last soldier fumbled hastily for the radio on his belt, but his hand only got far enough to bruch against it before he was roughly grabbed from behind, his arms pinned to his sides, and his head pulled back sharply. From the corner of his eyes he could see a human arm, black sleeved suddenly give way to purple fur and claws, a deep growl in his hears as a wolfish snout came into view. He screamed, but it was cut short as something viciously tor into his neck, blood gurgled in his throat as his eyes went dull and lifeless.

Galian beast savaged the soldier, ripping and swallowing chunks of the still bleeding flesh. _Blood, meat, kill._

Vincent stumbled backwards. He felt like he'd been thrown backwards. The smell of blood assaulted him and he almost vomited at the sight of the seven mutilated bodies before him. He'd shot six, the seventh he had jumped down to detain and question, then…

His head spun as everything came rushing back. He's jumped down, grabbed the man before he could get to the radio then the smell of blood hit him and something had awoken. His body had changed, the smell of blood, gods it had smelt so good. His mouth…no, muzzle had ripped into the man's throat, the taste. It had been like a starved man who suddenly had a whole banquet before him. Every part of him had reviled at finally being able to eat.

He looked at his hands, no blood. He brought his hand to his face and felt, brought his hand down again and still no blood.

_The table was wood, heavy and slick with his sweat. He was strapped down again, head, chest, wrists, thighs, ankles, all bound tightly to the table. His muscles bruised and sore, limb ends tingling with poor circulation. Hojo was there, just out of sight. He could hear him moving, doing something on a metal tray. He suddenly felt something jabbed into his arm, pain spread from the spot like fire on an oil spill. His body felt like it was burning alive. His screams reverberated off the stone walls as his skin began to split apart revealing deep purple fur. He felt like the ends of his fingers and toes where being stabbed from the inside out, unknowing that claws where ripping bloodily out of them. The screams turned to roars as the transformation peaked. Bones snapped viciously as the bindings bit into and held the new form cruelly. Somewhere Vincent could hear Hojo laugh. _

*Snap, crack*

The sound of several things approaching, his eyes picking out the shapes of his comrades, silently he leapt back into the trees and moved off a ways. AVALANCHE came upon the mangled corpses and there was a collective gasp.

"The hell?"

"What happened?!"

"Are those…were those people?"

"Look at the uniforms…or what's left of them…ShinRa."

"Look for survivors." Cloud said.

As the group spread out to search the bodies and the area, Vincent came out of the bushes, loading his gun. "Biggest Nible wolves I've ever seen, I managed to chase them off" He said. "Are there any survivors?" He made sure to keep eye contact with Cloud as he spoke; he'd learned to lie well when he was a Turk.

"Doesn't look like it" Cloud said kneeling over one of the bodies.

Vincent didn't know that Tifa was from Nibleheim, or that she's been a guide in the area for many years, thus she knew what Nible wolf tracks looked like. These tracks were not those. She looked at Vincent thoughtfully, but decided to keep her own council…for now.

"We'd better keep moving" Cloud eventually said when their search turned up nothing useful. "We don't want more ShinRa dogs coming across us in the night."

The group returned to camp, and after a brief clean up, they were on the move again.


End file.
